Borough Keeps It's Council Tax Demands Low

The Borough Council’s share of Council Tax bills is to rise by a few pence each week for the vast majority of residents in the year ahead.

An increase of £5 a year has been agreed for an average Band D household which will take the annual bill which Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council charges for its services to £190.45 for an average Band D property.

Although Band D is used as the “average” by councils, in Newcastle-under-Lyme around 70 per cent of all homes are in either Bands A, B or C. For these households the annual increase in what they pay the Borough Council for the services it provides is £3.33 for Band A, £3.89 for Band B and £4.44 for Band C.

That amounts to six pence, seven pence and nine pence a week respectively for four out five of all homes in the district.

The increase was agreed at a meeting of Full Council on 21 February.

Council Leader Simon Tagg, who introduced the budget at the meeting, said: “When we took over running the Council in December we identified a number of key areas that we wanted to focus on.

“One of those first priorities was to bring a balanced budget to Full Council and we have done that. We are also making headway on some of those other priority areas such as sports centre provision in Kidsgrove, a review of the Recycling and Waste Service has begun and we have taken action to ensure our first all-out elections in May go according to plan and ensure everyone who wishes to can exercise their democratic right to vote.”

Cllr. Stephen Sweeney, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet member for finance and resources, said: “We are working hard to be as efficient and effective as we can, but these are challenging financial times for local government and that means despite all of our efforts, the Borough Council still needs a little bit extra from residents in the year ahead to enable us to balance the books.”

He added: “We have done our level best to keep the increase of the borough’s share of bills as low as we could and to make sure as much money as possible stays in the pockets of local people.”

Other key points for residents to note about their bills for 2018/19 are:-

Staffordshire County Council has increased its demands and an average Band D property will pay the county £1,210.52 – a rise of almost £68 - for the services it provides.

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service’s demands go up by £1.97 for a Band D property to £73.53.

The Office of Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner has increased its demands for 2018/19 and a Band D property will now pay £192.56.

When all of the various parts of the Council Tax bill are added together it means an average Band D property in the borough - which does not have a town or parish council - will pay £1,667.06 from 1 April.

If where you live does have a parish/town council then whatever they require will be added to the amount above.

Although the Borough Council has the job of sending out the bills and collecting all of the money, it does not keep it all but passes the relevant amounts over to the organisations listed above.

Cllr. Sweeney said that the savings of £2.728 million incorporated in the 2017/18 budget are on target to be achieved.

He added that during 2018/19, a total of £1.696 million will be saved through:-

a) The increase in the Borough Council’s precept.

b) £887,000 from alternative sources of funding such as the New Homes Bonus, the capitalisation of equipment purchases and some other savings.

c) £470,000 from staffing efficiencies such as flexible early retirements. There are no redundancies arising from these savings.

d) £289,000 from a mixture of good housekeeping efficiencies and changes in base budgets.

e) £50,000 from smarter procurement.

Over the last decade the Borough Council has managed to plug “budget gaps” of more than £22 million thanks to a combination of savings, efficiencies and bringing in more income.

During that time, the Council has managed to continue to provide the dozens of services which touch the lives of residents in Newcastle-under-Lyme on a daily basis such as recycling and waste, leisure and cultural services, planning, pest control, tackling anti-social behaviour, making sure our roads and streets are clean and clear, tackling fly-tippers, making sure benefit payments are delivered, providing parks and open spaces etc.

Although the savings outlined above are extensive, there are more challenges ahead and over the next five years the Borough Council anticipates having to remove up to £5.3 million more from its spending.